KHC Dragons and Waterloo Ducks have the edge after the first leg of their respective Belgian men’s semi-finals, getting the better of Orée and Royal Léopold on Sunday.
For Dragons, a brilliant late double from Nicolas Della Torre saw them spring a 3-2 win over Orée as he netted twice in the last four minutes to turn things around.
It was a game, though, while will be remembered more for a nasty head injury to Manu Stockbroekx which required a 40-minute break in play.
Thankfully, he was conscious to be able to post on Instagram from hospital, saying he was suffering from internal bleeding and concussion as well as requiring five stitches in his lip. It will require two days in rest and potential surgery for the internal bleeding.
Before his injury, Lucas Martinez had given Dragons a 1-0 lead while Tomi Domene swapped the lead after Stockbroekx’s departure to make it 2-1 to Orée.
The WatDucks won by the same 3-2 scoreline over Léo thanks to Jeremy Wilbers’ late goal.
Léo did take a sixth minute lead via Arthur Verdussen while Max Plennevaux hit the crossbar. Waterloo equalised through Whillian Ghislain (pictured) in the second half and went in front from Victor Charlet’s corner.
Tom Boon levelled with five minutes to go but Wilbers got the winner with 94 seconds left to continue the Ducks unbeaten run into a 15th game.
The decisive second legs will take place next weekend.